LOVE LOVE LOVE that they decided to open the season right where it left off and then go into the title sequence. I love that it mirrors the prologue type format of the book. It worked extremely well in S1 and I was disappointed that they strayed from it in S2.

The interactions between Tyrion and his family are always fun... the contempt they feel for each other is palpable as it always was in the books.

I like that they chose to show a focused set of story lines... it made the episode flow a lot better than some from last season. That said, a lot of **** is about to go down, so it will be interesting to see how they handle it.

the wicked child wrote:I need to get to bed, but a few brief comments for now...

Spoiler:

LOVE LOVE LOVE that they decided to open the season right where it left off and then go into the title sequence. I love that it mirrors the prologue type format of the book. It worked extremely well in S1 and I was disappointed that they strayed from it in S2.

The interactions between Tyrion and his family are always fun... the contempt they feel for each other is palpable as it always was in the books.

I like that they chose to show a focused set of story lines... it made the episode flow a lot better than some from last season. That said, a lot of **** is about to go down, so it will be interesting to see how they handle it.

Spoiler:

"So much is about to go down" is the understatement of the year. Watching the responses from people when Eddard died was awesome. This season should be even better.

the wicked child wrote:I need to get to bed, but a few brief comments for now...

Spoiler:

LOVE LOVE LOVE that they decided to open the season right where it left off and then go into the title sequence. I love that it mirrors the prologue type format of the book. It worked extremely well in S1 and I was disappointed that they strayed from it in S2.

The interactions between Tyrion and his family are always fun... the contempt they feel for each other is palpable as it always was in the books.

I like that they chose to show a focused set of story lines... it made the episode flow a lot better than some from last season. That said, a lot of **** is about to go down, so it will be interesting to see how they handle it.

Spoiler:

"So much is about to go down" is the understatement of the year. Watching the responses from people when Eddard died was awesome. This season should be even better.

the wicked child wrote:I need to get to bed, but a few brief comments for now...

Spoiler:

LOVE LOVE LOVE that they decided to open the season right where it left off and then go into the title sequence. I love that it mirrors the prologue type format of the book. It worked extremely well in S1 and I was disappointed that they strayed from it in S2.

The interactions between Tyrion and his family are always fun... the contempt they feel for each other is palpable as it always was in the books.

I like that they chose to show a focused set of story lines... it made the episode flow a lot better than some from last season. That said, a lot of **** is about to go down, so it will be interesting to see how they handle it.

Spoiler:

"So much is about to go down" is the understatement of the year. Watching the responses from people when Eddard died was awesome. This season should be even better.

Spoiler:

Don't get attached to your favorite characters?

Spoiler:

That should be known by now but it's not just about people living or dying. Stuff is about to get all types of crazy.

I didn't see this discussed earlier in this thread, but apparently the show's producers have abandoned the direct book to season adaptation model and are instead focusing on adapting the overall "A Song of Ice and Fire" storyline. I haven't read the books (words make me sleepy), but I am familiar enough with the series to know that the length of the future novels, as well as the odd formatting, that this seems like the best choice for the show. Hopefully they will get the 10 seasons they desire to fully adapt Martin's story.

That makes sense... they were going to have to do this upon reaching book 4 and 5 anyway, and book 3 was much too long to cram into one season. It lets them move events around a little bit and keep the various characters involved. It might be nothing to not hear about a character for chapters (or even a book at a time) in the books, but on tv they are fighting with people forgetting about characters or losing interest in them.

It also gives Martin more time to finish the series.

First and foremost, I want them to make it through season 4 which should pretty much cover the remainder of Book 3. Once they get past that, everything else is gravy for me... but obviously I want it to keep going.

I read an article recently that said that GOT is not only HBO’s highest-rated show, it’s also the most pirated/torrented TV show of all time. With ratings like that, it would be spectacularly foolish for HBO to not ride this pony until it drops dead.

shmenguin wrote:they'll probably need 9 or 10 seasons to do the whole book series (though they could merge books 4 and 5 into 1 season and i'd be ok with it). that would be a really long run for an HBO series.

i imagine george rr will have to finish book 7 by 2018 for HBO to get it shot on time.

My dream chronology is that the books finish first, and I do have a considerable lead over them. It’s true that they’re moving faster than I am, the series has its own speed, but I don’t see us catching up for another three years or so — by which time another book will be out. That should give them another two seasons of material. And while I’m writing the last book, they’d be making those.

Given Martin's penchant for taking for freakin ever, it sounds like a bit of a pipedream, but it seems like a good plan. Hopefully he's able to follow through.